Case History
The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art
The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art stands in the heart of Newmarket in Suffolk and occupies the remains of Palace House and Great Stables built by Charles II in 1671. It has been painstakingly restored to provide a home for a Heritage Centre that celebrates the heritage, history, art, science and heroes of the sport of horseracing and is a landmark for a sport, which from its beginnings in Newmarket over 350 years ago, is now a global phenomenon.
The Heritage Centre is home to three organisations:
The National Horseracing Museum is the custodian of the world's greatest collection of horseracing’s most precious objects which trace the sport back from the early 17th century to the international sport and business is it today. It explores the science which make the thoroughbred horse the speed and stamina machine it has become, and of course honours the sportsmen and horses that have made it both the sport of kings and the people.
Palace House is also home to the Fred Packard Galleries of Sporting Art which, for the first time, has given a permanent home to the British Sporting Art Collection, which charts the sporting art genre from its inception to the present day looking at all sport through the lens of art.
In addition to its own collection, the gallery also includes a number of loans from the Tate, the Fitzwilliam and a number of private collections, giving the public an opportunity to appreciate artists as diverse as Orphen, Singer Sargent, Blake, Stubbs and Munnings, all in one place.
In 2017 The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art was shortlisted for the Art Fund Museum of the Year .
The third element of this unique place is the flagship home of the Retraining of Racehorses charity, which is the organisation that ensures that racehorses can have another career once their racing days are behind them. In the Rothschild Yard at Palace House, and the purpose built arena on the site, visitors can meet the real heroes of the sport and see them being put through their retraining paces to prepare them for a fulfilling life after racing.
Brand Strategy
Underpinning everything that happened at the Heritage Centre was an integrated brand strategy and guidelines against which all activities were benchmarked.
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Shop
Having a very stylish shop in keeping with the old and new architectural style of the building was a key part of our strategy
Products
Key to the success of the shop was the development of a unique range of products which took their inspiration from the content and context of the Heritage Centre. As well as the outlet at Palace House. Satellite shops were opened at both Newmarket Racecourses.
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The Tack Room
After much research it was decided that we would develop a café restaurant in partnership with a local restauranteur with whom we shared a vision in terms of the style and menu and which would ensure that our ambition for this to become an destination in its own right could be achieved. It would be a modern British menu - seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, opening at 8.00am in the morning and closing at 11.00pm at night. The Tack Room seamlessly moves from breakfast through to lunch, afternoon tea and in the evening transforms into a wine bar restaurant with a great wine list. It has a life after the museum is closed. The jewel in the museums crown is the Kings Yard which gives The Tack Room the opportunity to offer an inside/outside dining space.
Bakery
We also felt there was an opportunity to add a take away outlet which would offer Heritage Centre visitors a quick alternative to the café restaurant and give locals an opportunity to buy home-baked artisan breads, cakes and sandwiches for lunch.
Events, Venue and Location Hire
The Heritage Centre has developed a programme of free and ticketed events to broaden it’s visitor base with particular emphasis on activities for children.
In addition, The Heritage Centre markets its unique spaces for corporate parties, weddings, and for film and photographic shoots.
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Discover Newmarket
Together with a number of key stakeholders in Newmarket, The Heritage Centre are founders of a tour company called Discover Newmarket which was set up to provide behind the scene tours of the unique place where the sport of horseracing began over 350 years ago and remains its headquarters today having grown to become a global phenomena.
Discover Newmarket specialises in providing visitors to the town with a rare insight into the world of racing, its royal history and the thoroughbred horse.
